The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-14

ont due authority OF law is criminal.
Those committing the deed may not
know when they put all innocent person
to death.
Such conduct cln only result il pro-
ducing 4 reign Of terror. 1t recalls to
mind the days OF the kukluN organiz;l-
ton when ol;r State was PIT in the
hands OF reckless military authorities.
who made nnwarrantcd arrests and i'm
priSonrd or bet citizens on the liimSi-
est testimony. In those days many good
citizens were sent from our State to the
Albany prn;cntiary by thc oaths Of
men who should never have been lis
tened TO in court OF Justice. The or
caniZation was 10 doubt intended by its
originators for good. but operating out
side the pale OF tic law, it brought up
on the country 4 reign OF terror. Ii this
course oi lynch law is persisted in,
twenty-five years hence we will have no
such thing rs civil government.
The men Just lynched were kept in
Columbia until the excitement produced
by their crime was supposed to have
subsided. Had the event been iortseen,
or had I even had an ;ntimation of it
yesterday evening, could have ordered
out the posse comhGtus OF the county, but
all that can now be done to modify the
evil is for the Legislature to change the
law so rs to give sheri1fs greater power
to or.ler out suitable guards for the pro-
lection OF prisoners III their charge. As
| before remarked, in view of the Edge
| field case, deem it useless to put the
county to the expense OF an lnvestlSa-
ton. and think the Judge who would do
so would be acting as if in pursuit OF a
will '-thc-wiSp, though I would instruct
you to inquire into the matter and make
special report Oil the convcning OF Court
| tomorrow morning, rs 20 whether or
not the officers OF the county are to
blame for its occurrence.
In their preSentmcnt the grand jury
rcc:te the facts of the lyncliing and close
this branch of their subject as follows {:
eve feel convinced that the Sheriff did
his whole duty in the matter and that
no blame cau attach to him. The grand
jury drpIorc the occurrence, especially
as Court was in session and the prison.
ers would have been speedily brought to
justice in 4 legal manner. We take this
opportunity to express our condemna-
ton OF the growing practice OF lynch
ing"
JUDGE PRESLEY STICKS TO WHAT HE
SAID.
To the Editor Of the Ne1cS and Courier:
The supposed fault OF my late charge
to the grand Jury of York is greater
than has been reported. When | said to
them that Courts OF Justice were power
less to repress or punish the horrible
crime Of lynching, that charge was not
limited to York, or to South Carolina,
but plainly and expressly included the
whole United States. There would be
hope fol the country, I said, if in only
two or three States that crime was un-
punished, but now could find no REM
edy III the weakness OF the Courts. Let
not the Pharisces Of any section, THANK
God that they arc not as other men are,
Or even rs this publican" That wor-
ship is hypocrisy until they can call to
mind one solitary case in which a band
of lvnchers has been punished by any
Court in any section Of the whole coun-
try.
Is it wrong TO proclaim and publish,
and repeat and again repeat, this dis
grace to our civilization, when only that
course can sayc the country? Listen to
a tale Of simple, sad truth
When Moore was lynched at Spartan
burg, eight years ago, I earnestly re-
minded the grand jury Of the oaths they
had just taken warned them that they
would violate their oathS il they failed
to search ont and bring to trial the per-
sons who killed Moore. All that could
do was done to make them sensible OF
danger to the State II such crimes were
not speedily punished. Aad yet, de-
spite ali my warnings, that grand jury
not only refused to pursue the lynchers,
but also justified the crime in their final
presentment. That rebnff did not 81
lcnce me. Ever since, until the ac-
hnowledgcd failure OF the Edgctield
prosecutions. did not cease to charge,
urge and warn the grand iuries to bring
lvnchers to trial. Now, am unwilling
any longer to use the expensive ma
chincrY of the Court to enact a farce.
The only remedy is to rouse the peo-
pie to proper sense OF their danger
and their disgrace. My warnings thus
far have been poured into deaf ears, and
begin to sound like an idle tale ever to
myself.
If pulpit, press and aU goodpeople would
pcrsiStcntly unite to make lynchins
hateful, then the Courts could punish
and crush it out. Until that be done we
can ONLY l,lay Cassandra-warn in vain.
Let me say ior the grand jury OF York
that they added to their final present
ment much earnest condemnation OF the
lyncherS. Tia: ''little crumb OF COM
FORT is more than ever before got from
a grand jury.
Very respectfully yours,
3. G. PRESLEY,
judge of First Circuit.
ASTONISHING SUCCESS.